Notwithstanding the pressures from the ruling Telugu Desam Party, the Opposition parties and even the threat by Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, the Centre is learnt to have expressed its helplessness to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
This was hinted at by Union Minister Y S Chowdary at a media conference in Delhi on Thursday. He said though nobody had so far told him that special category status would not be given to AP, the Centre was doing exercise to provide financial assistance to the state which would be equal to the benefits the state would get from the special category status.
“Let us be optimistic. We shall continue to ask for special category status and the Centre is saying there are some legal problems in granting the status. At the same time, we are trying our best to get the maximum benefits to the state as per the AP Reorganisation Act and also beyond the purview of the act. We shall get clarity on various issues in three or four days,” Chowdary said.
He said the Centre was ready to give liberal assistance for the capital city of Amaravati once the detailed project report was ready. It would also take up the Polavaram project in a big way.
“There is no clarity yet on the railway zone, which we shall give very shortly,” he said.
